Fashion designer and Kate Spade New York co-founder Kate Spade was found dead in New York Tuesday. Law enforcement officials said it was an apparent suicide. She was 55 years old.
Spade is survived by her husband, Andy Spade, and their daughter, Frances Beatrix. Andy Spade co-founded the popular handbags and accessories company in 1993.
Here are some things to know about Andy Spade.
Andy Spade met Kate Spade in the 1980s
Married in 1994, Spade, the brother of comedian David Spade, met Kate Spade at Arizona State University in the mid-1980s. They moved to New York in 1986.
Credit: Monica Schipper/WireImage
Credit: Monica Schipper/WireImage
Andy Spade is a co-founder of Kate Spade New York
In 1993, Kate Spade and Andy Spade founded Kate Spade New York. The first shop opened in New York in 1996. The company now has more than 140 stores in the U.S. and more than 175 shops worldwide.
The Spades sold the company in 2007
In order to focus on their daughter, the couple turned the company over to what is now Kate Spade & Company.
Andy Spade started his own branding company in 2008
Partners & Spade, Andy Spade's company, has worked with brands like J. Crew, Target, and Warby Parker. In 2013, he established the luxury pajamas company Sleepy Jones with Chad Buri and Anthony Sperduti. He also co-owns Half Gallery, an art space in New York.
In 2015, the Spades started another accessories company called Frances Valentine
"I feel like I'm an entrepreneur," Andy Spade told CNBC in a 2015 interview. "And to me, starting things is really fun." Frances Valentine is named after Kate Spade's grandfathers.
"There were a lot of things we made up and we thought that wasn't feeling right," Andy Spade told WWD in 2015. "A person's name felt like this thing that was part of us, that connection, something real."
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